UC-NRLF 


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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 

MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


AN 


ADDRESS 


BEFORE    THE 


HAMPSHIRE,  FRANKLIN,  AND  HAMPDEN 

AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY  ; 

DELIVERED  m  GREENFIELD,  OCT.  53,  l83l 


BY  HENRY  COLMAN. 


PURLlSilED    At    THE    REiJUEST    OP    THE    SOCIETY; 


GREENFIELD,  iVIASS. 

PRINTED  BY  PHELPS  AND  INGERSOLL* 

1833. 


.6X  521 


.  Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arbiiive 
in  2007  with  funding  from 
IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


i 
littp://www.arcliive.org/details/addressbeforeliamOOcolmrich       4 


Cb 


TO  JOHN  LOWELL,  ESQ. 

THE  ROXBURY  FARMER  5 

Whose  talents  through  life  have  been  devoted 
to  objects  of  public  utility  and  improvement ;  and 
to  whose  enlightened,  indefatigable,  liberal,  and 
disinterested  exertions,  the  .^Agriculture  of  Massa- 
chusetts is  in  the  deepest  measure  indebted,  this 
Address  is  inscribed  with  sentiments  of  the  high- 
est respect  by  its 

AUTHOR. 

Meadowbanks,  Deerfield, 
Oct.  1833. 


ADDRES8. 


"  The  eflforts  to  extend  the  dominion  of  man  over  nature," 
says  Bacon,  the  great  master  of  Philosophy  "  is  the  most 
healthy  and  most  noble  of  all  ambitions."  This  admirable 
sentiment  is  in  nothing  more  true  than  in  its  application  to 
agriculture.  Here  man  exercises  dominion  over  nature  ;  ex- 
erts a  power  more  nearly  than  any  other  resembling  a  creative 
power  ;  commands  the  earth  on  which  he  treads  to  waken  her 
mysterious  energies  ;  spreads  fertility  over  barrenness ;  scat- 
ters the  beauties  and  glories  of  the  vegetable  creation,  where 
before  all  was  desolate  ;  compels  the  inanimate  earth  to  teem 
with  life  ;  and  to  impart  sustenance  and  power,  health  and 
happiness  to  the  countless  multitudes,  who  hang  upon  her 
breast  and  are  dependent  on  her  bounty. 

Agriculture  is  the  great  interest  of  every  community  ad- 
vanced beyond  the  savage  state.  I  mean  no  invidious  dis- 
tinction. The  interests  of  the  social  body  are  various ;  and 
in  proportion  to  its  improved  condition  its  wants  are  multiplied 
to  an  indefinite  extent.  Many  hands  and  many  arts  are  ne- 
cessary to  erect,  support,  furnish,  light  up,  adorn  the  grand 
superstructure  of  society,  and  supply  the  wants  and  provide 
for  the  entertainment  of  its  innumerable  and  insatiate  guests. 
The  division  of  labor  is  one  of  the  most  important  improve- 
ments of  civilization,   and  one  of  the  surest  evidences  of  its 


mG8020 


advancement.  It  is  essential  to  the  perfection  of  the  arts  of 
life.  The  humblest  occupations  are  important ;  and,  if  useful 
and  honest,  are  respectable.  He  who  labors  with  his  mind, 
equally  as  he  who  labors  with  his  hands,  is  a  working  man. 
The  hardy  ploughman  who  *'  jocund  drives  his  team  a'field," 
and  proudly  strokes  the  smooth  coats  of  his  cattle,  has  no 
reason  to  envy  the  pale  and  emaciated  scholar,  poring  till 
faint  with  exhaustion  over  the  half  formed  progeny  of  his 
wearied  brain  ;  with  eyes  scarce  open  hunting  for  metaphors 
by  the  expiring  rays  of  his  midnight  lamp ;  and  waiting  so 
long  with  hope  deferred  for  the  gushes  of  inspiration,  that 
when  at  last  the  waters  are  troubled  he  has  not  strength 
enough  left  to  crawl  to  the  fountain.  In  the  crowded  hive  of 
human  life,  they  who  build  the  cell,  as  well  as  they  "  who  gather 
the  honey  to  store  it  well"  are  mutually  useful  and  essential. 
But  among  the  various  occupations  of  society,  agriculture  ob- 
viously holds  a  commanding  rank.  If  the  prince  may  proudly 
say  *'  I  govern  all,"  and  the  soldier  "  I  fight  for  all,"  and  the 
merchant  "  I  pay  all ;"  the  farmer  may  hold  up  his  head  as 
high  as  the  rest,  and  with  a  noble  self  complacency  may  say> 
"  I  feed  all."  What  would  become  of  the  operatives,  and  of 
what  use  would  be  the  curious  and  exquisite  machinery  of  the 
largest  establishment,  if  the  power-wheel  should  cease  its  re- 
volutions ?  Manufactures  and  commerce,  all  of  science  and  all 
of  art,  all  of  intellectual  as  well  as  physical  good,  are  depend- 
ant on  agriculture.  The  agricultural  products  of  one  year 
are  not  more  than  sufficient  for  the  consumption  of  the  animal 
creation  until  the  succeeding  harvest  pours  out  its  golden  trea- 
sures. If  the  husbandman  should  remit  his  labors  for  a  single 
season  the  human  race  must  perish.  What  would  philosophy 
do  without  bread  1  Without  agriculture  the  thundering  wheels 
and  the  buzzing  spindles  of  the  manufacturer  must  cease  their 
gyrations.  She  too  loads  the  buoyant  arks  of  commerce,  and 
bids  them  speed  their  flight  to  the  remotest  regions  of  the 
earth,  and  return  deeply  freighted  with  the  treasures  of  foreign 
climes. 


Agriculture  as  a  profession  begins  to  occupy  the  rank 
among  us  to  which  it  has  a  just  claim.  Some  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  in  our  own  and  other  countries,  in  the  pre- 
sent and  past  ages,  men  as  eminent  for  intellectual  and  moral 
attainments  as  for  the  station  which  they  have  occupied  in 
public  regard  and  the  part  which  they  have  performed  in  public 
affairs,  have  honored  the  profession  and  themselves  by  engaging 
even  in  its  humblest  labors  and  details  ;  and  have  ingenuously 
confessed  that  they  have  found  in  its  calm  pursuits  an  inex- 
haustible source  of  interest  and  recreation,  and  a  more  grate- 
ful pleasure  than  the  brilliant  scenes  of  public  life  have  afford- 
ed. The  elements  of  true  dignity  of  character  are  integrity, 
usefulness,  activity,  and  intelligence.  This  beautiful  valley, 
watered  by  the  beneficent  stream,  whose  name  it  bears,  and 
fenced  in  by  those  magnificent  highlands,  which  mark  its  pro- 
gress to  the  ocean,  presents  in  its  farming  population  so  many 
examples  of  this  noble  combination,  that  the  profession  of 
agriculture  here  occupies  a  front  rank  among  the  most  useful 
and  respectable. 

It  is  with  unfeigned  diffidence  that  I  address  an  assembly 
of  such  men  on  this  occasion.  Feeling  myself,  even  after 
years  of  inquiry  and  practice  in  this  great  art,  only  a  learner, 
and  a  comparative  stranger  in  this  part  of  the  country,  I  was 
honestly  averse  to  this  duty.  I  shall  attempt  nothing  more 
than  to  offer  such  hints,  as  may  stimulate  the  inquiries  of  oth- 
ers ;  and  should  it  appear,  that  I  am  greatly  out  of  my  place, 
I  shall  console  myself  with  the  reflection,  that  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  appointment  rests  not  with  him  who  accepts,  but 
with  those  who  make  it. 

The  agriculture  of  the  counties  under  the  auspices  of  this 
Society  is  highly  respectable  ;  but  I  trust  I  shall  not  give 
offence,  by  saying  that  it  admits  of  great  improvements  ;  and 
by  referring  to  some  points  to  which  our  efforts  for  improve- 
ment may  be  directed. 

The  agricultural  population  here  may  be  divided  into  three 


classes.  First  those,  who,  besides  cultivating  some  land,  are 
likewise  tradesmen  or  mechanics  ;  and  with  their  agricultural 
unite  some  mechanical  or  professional  pursuit,  to  which  their 
farming  is  only  secondary.  The  returns  of  husbandry  are  in 
general  so  much  slower  and  smaller  than  those  from  their  art 
or  trade,  that  the  latter  is  likely  to  absorb  much  of  their  at- 
tention to  the  prejudice  of  their  husbandry.  There  are  emi- 
nent exceptions  to  this  remark  ;  and  we  owe  to  some  of  these 
persons  many  valuable  experiments  in  agriculture,  which 
their  ready  capital  has  furnished  them  with  the  means  of  mak- 
ing under  circumstances  of  great  advantage. 

The  second  class  is  composed  of  those,  who,  occupying 
small  farms,  look  for  nothing  from  their  farms  beyond  the  bare 
support  of  their  families  ;  having  other  resources,  they  feel  in-* 
dependent  of  its  returns  ;  or  devoid  of  ambition,  and  indolent 
and  improvident,  they  are  content  with  the  most  scanty  re>* 
turns.  Ignorant  of  the  art  of  living,  they  are  in  general  in  the 
midst  of  the  means  of  abundance  destitute  of  common  com- 
forts ;  and  are  satisfied  if  they  obtain,  by  a  little  labor  incon- 
stantly and  indifferently  applied,  the  bare  necessaries  of  life. 

The  third  class  comprehends  those  with  whom  agriculture  is 
an  exclusive  profession  ;  who  are  willing  to  labor  and  are  seek- 
ing the  fair  rewards  of  industry.  Stimulated  by  an  honest  de- 
sire of  profit,  they  are  anxious  to  extend  their  cultivation  to  the 
farthest  point  to  which  it  may  be  carried  to  advantage.  It  is 
to  this  latter  class,  who  alone,  properly  speaking,  deserve  the 
name  of  farmers,  that  my  remarks  will  be  directed. 

Farming  here  consists  of  three  kinds  ;  first,  dairy  farming  ; 
second,  grazing,  embracing  sheep  husbandry,  and  the  raising 
of  young  stock  ;  and  lastly  arable  farming,  including  the  con- 
sumption of  the  produce  on  the  place  by  the  stall-feeding  of 
cattle,  sheep,  or  swine.  There  are  many  farms,  which  to  a 
certain  extent  combine  these  pursuits  ,'  but  these  objects 
are  distinct,  and  cannot  often  to  any  great  extent  be  ad- 
vantageously prosecuted  together. 


9 

T.  Of  dairy  husbandry,  I  shall  say  little.  The  art  of  making 
cheese  is  well  understood  among  us  ;  and  its  quality  in  gen- 
eral good  ;  but  in  regard  to  butter,  great  improvement  is  as  de- 
sirable as  it  is  practicable.     Much  of  that  manufactured  here 
is  scarcely  tolerable.     Any  person,  accustomed  to  eat  the  but- 
ter brought  into  the  Philadelphia  market,  must  have  observed 
its  extraordinary  superiority  in  flavor  and  richness  to  the  arti- 
cle generally  produced  among  us.     What  occasions  this  su- 
periority ?     There  is  an  advantage  in  the  spring  houses  of  the 
Pennsylvanians,  built  of  stone  over  some  running  water,  where 
the  milk  is  always  kept,   and  which  is  devoted  exclusively  to 
dairy  purposes.  This  and  the  cultivation  of  white  clover  in  their 
pastures,  the  frequent  churning,  so  that  the  cream  is  never  old, 
the  entire  expression  of  the  butter-milk,  and  the  most  particu- 
lar attention  to  cleanliness  in  every  part  of  the  process,  are  the 
probable  means  of  their  success.     But  in  these  respects  there 
is  not  a  single  circumstance  in  which  we  mi^ht  not  equal  them  ; 
and  since  the  difference  in  the  prices  of  butter  between  that  of 
an  exquisite  quality  and  that  of  an  ordinary  kind  is  more  than 
a  hundred  per  cent,  our  dairy  farmers  have  sufficient  induce- 
ments to  endeavor  to  excel.     The  premiums  bestowed  for  this 
purpose  under  the  direction  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
Society  have  had  a  highly  beneficial  effect  ;  and  have  proved 
that  we  are  capable  of  producing  as  good  butter  as  can  be 
made.     Some  exhibited  on  the  present  occasion  fully  estab- 
lishes this  assertion.     I  may  remark  in  this  connexion  that 
little  attention  is  paid  to  our  pastures.     Plaster  and  ashes   are 
seldom  applied  to  them,  though  in  most  cases  without  a  doubt 
the  application  would  be  highly  beneficial ;  and  they  are  suP. 
fered  without  concern  to  be  overrun  with  brakes,  briers,  and 
that  increasing  pest  the  Canada  thistle.     There  is  reason  to 
believe  too  that  our  dairy  farmers  pay  little  attention  to  ascer* 
tain  the  comparative  quality  of  the  milk  of  their  different  cows, 
which  in  respect  to  its  yield  of  cream,   and  of  course   the 
amount  of  butter  which  may  be  made  from  it,  must  differ  very 

15 


10 

greatly  ;  some  yielding  milk  of  the  richest  quality  ;  and  the 
milk  of  others  being  worthless.* 

II.  In  respect  to  sheep  husbandry  and  the  raising  of  young 
stock  many  farms  from  their  rough  and  mountainous  charac- 
ter   are    adapted    solely    to   these   objects.      The   raising   of 
neat  stock,  however,  beyond  the  consumption  of  coarse  fodder 
upon  a  farm,  is  not  a  source  of  great  profit,  unless  upon  land 
of  low  price.     The   stall-feeding  of  beef  animals   upon   hay 
and  meal   is  likewise  a  very  doubtful  source  of  gain  at  the 
average  price  of  hay  and  grain  among  us.     Few  farmers  have 
exactness  enough  of  calculation  or  experiment  to  determine 
whether  it  does  or  does  not  yield  a  fair  compensation  for  their 
labor   arid  produce  ;    and   the  purchasing  of  cattle    for  the 
purpose  of  stall-feeding,    is   so    mach    matter   of  judgment, 
skill  in  trade,  or  mere  accident,  the  thrift  of  different  animals 
is  so  different,  the  state  of  the  market  is  so  precarious,  and  by 
the  present  mode  of  management  the  farmer  is  liable  to  so  many 
impositions  and  frauds  on.  the  part  of  dishonest  dealers  and 
butchers,  that  the  chance  of  success  is  by  many  judicious  far- 
mers considered  very  small.     It  were  greatly  to  be  wished' 
that  some   mode  or  standard^  could  be  adopted  of  selling  the 
animal  by  live  weight  on  the  hoof,   to  avoid  the  evils  and  in- 
conveniences of  the  present  mode,,  by  which  the  seller  is  pla- 
ced entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  buyer  with  no  security  against 
fraud  and  with  scarcely  the  possibility  of  redress. 

It  is  confidently  believed  that  the  sheep  husbandry,  when, 
judiciously  pursued,  affords  far  better  prospect  of  gain.  Ttis 
ascertained,  that  no  husbandry  will  do  more  to  preserve  and 
improve  the  condition  of  a  farm  ;  and  those  farmers,  who  have 

*  In  a  former  publication,  I  have  stated  a  fact  coming  under  my  own 
observation,  that  in  an  experiment  of  milk  taken  at  the  same  lime  and 
placed  in  the  same  situation  and  where  the  cows  were  fed  in  the  same 
manner,  the  milk  of  one  cow  yielded  at  the  rale  of  one  inch  and  three  tenths 
of  an  inch  of  cream  upon  nine  inches  of  milk,  and  thai  of  anolher  cow  in 
same  yard  produced  only  two  tenths — in  the  quality  of  the  milk  of  the  Iwo 
cowf  for  ibe-^r^DSQ  of  making  butter,,  the  di^iirence  then  was  13  to  2.. 


3^1 

steadily  persevered  in  it,  even  under  all  the  fluctuations 
through  which  the  prices  of  wool  have  passed,  have  received  a 
full  remuneration  for  their  care  and  expenditure.  The  great 
question  of  comparative  advantage  between  the  fine  wooled, 
the  medium  quality,  the  long  wooled,  or  our  common  native 
sheep,  presents  a  subject  involving  such  various  considerations, 
that  the  present  time  does  not  admit  of  its  discussion.  The 
introduction  of  fine  wooled  sheep  into  the  country  has  been  of 
very  great  advantage ;  and  though  to  the  serious  loss  of  those 
persons,  who  as  mere  speculators,  deluded  by  most  extrava- 
gant calculations  of  profit,  paid  enormous  prices  for  their 
flocks  ;  yet  to  the  ultimate  and  great  benefit  of  those  more 
prudent  or  more  fortunate  individuals,  who  came  after  them, 
and  reaped  the  advantage  of  a  reaction  in  the  public  estimation 
of  the  value  of  these  races  of  fine  wooled  sheep,  which  the  heavy 
disappointments  of  the  first  purchasers  occasioned.  Extreme 
fineness  of  fleece  is  obtained  only  at  the  expense  of  a  small  and 
tender  carcase.  It  is  confidently  hoped  that  by  a  judicious 
combination  of  the  merino  with  sheep  of  a  larger  size  a  race 
may  be  gradually  formed  yielding  wool  of  a  sufficient  degree  of 
fineness  for  the  common  demand  combined  with  a  carcase 
large  enough  for  the  market.  Such  attempts  have  already 
been  made  with  every  prospect  of  success. 

III.  I  pass  hastily  along  to  the  subject  of  arable  farms.  In- 
deed I  can  do  no  more  than  suggest  a  few  imperfect  hints  for  your 
consideration,  as  I  fear  I  may  trespass  upon  the  kindness  of  a 
portionof  my  audience,  who  feel  little  interest  in  the  humble  de- 
tails of  agriculture.  Few  will  deny  that  the  details  are  proper 
to  this  occasion.  I  need  not  bespeak  the  candor  of  far- 
mers' wives  and  farmers'  daughters,  if  indeed  the  old  race  of 
milk  maids  and  working  girls  be  not  wholly  extinct ;  and  I 
may  whisper  even  to  the  gentlest,  the  sweetest  humming  birds 
and  the  most  gorgeous  butterflies  of  the  fair  sex,  that  they 
may  gather  honey  from  the  wildest  flowers  of  the  most  neg- 


12 

lected  field,  I  may  crave  too  tliat  they  would  not  disdain  the 
husbandman's  humble  toil,  since  they  are  not  too  etherial  to 
be  beyond  the  need  of  its  fruits  ;  I  may  say  more,  that  love  is 
so  wayward,  perchance  some  sturdy  ploughman  may  yet  be 
eligible  to  the  highest  honors,  which  they  have  to  bestow ;  but 
let  them  not  be  unduly  alarmed  at  an  accident  of  this  kind  j 
under  his  tanned  skin,  his  rough  hand  and  his  coarse  exterior, 
there  is  often  found  as  true  a  heart  and  as  devoted  a  duty,  as 
in  the  the  most  polished  beau  that  ever  emerged  from  a  city 
bandbox. 

The  territory,  embraced  under  the  auspices  of  this  society^ 
comprehends  a  great  variety  of  soil ;  and  much  of  the  best  arable 
and  meadow  land  in  New  England.  Nor  is  there  any  extraordi- 
nary discouragement  here  to  cultivation  ;  labor  is  not  more  ex- 
pensive than  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  though  it  is  too  high 
compared  with  the  value  of  the  produce  ;  vast  quantities  of 
bread  stuff  are  imported  into  the  country ;  and  whatever  grain 
is  raised  will  for  the  present  command  a  higher  price  in  cash 
than  the  same  articles  on  the  sea-board. 

There  are  however  some  serious  obstacles  to  success.  One 
of  the  principal  is  the  worn-out  character  of  our  lands.  They 
have  been  so  long  under  cultivation  as  to  become  exhausted, 
and  yield  small  returns  to  the  cultivator.  Our  crops  of  Indian 
corn  do  not  average  more  than  thirty  bushels  to  the  acre  ;  of 
rye  not  more  than  twelve  ;  of  potatoes  not  more  than  two  hun- 
dred ;  and  of  hay,  excepting  on  alluvial  lands  annually  inun- 
dated by  the  river,  not  more  than  one  and  a  half  ton.  These 
crops  are  by  no  means  what  they  might  be.  Now  whether  it 
is  owing  to  too  severe  a  cropping  by  the  repetition  of  the  same 
crop  on  the  same  land  without  intermission  ;  or  too  scanty  ma- 
nuring ;  or  to  an  injudicious  cultivation,  I  shall  not  presume 
to  decide.    In  some  cases  these  several  causes  are  combined. 

Liberal  manuring  is  the  basis  of  all  successful  agriculture  ; 
and  it  is  folly  under  any  circumstances,  excepting  the  virgin 
lands  of  the  West,  where  there  has  been  for  centuries  an  ac- 
cumulation of  untouched  vegetable  matter,   to  disregard  the 


13  ^ 

great  law  of  nature,  which  requires  that  the  soil  should  be  often  ^ 
replenished  in  order  to  obtain  its  products,  as  much  as  that  d 
the  cow,  which  is  daily  milked,  should  be  daily  fed.  Next  to  '  ij 
liberal  manuring  a  judicious  rotation  of  crops  should  be  follow- 
ed up  ;  for  nature  chooses  a  variety,  and  scarcely  a  crop  of  any  ; 
kind  can  be  cultivated  successively,  and  without  intermission  i 
on  the  same  land,  without  a  gradual  diminution  of  the  produce. 
The  best  advantages  may  be  expected  likewise  from  that  great  i 
discovery  in  agriculture,  the  renovating  influence  of  clover,  I 
which,  being  sowed  with  small  grain  and  well  plastered,  and  1 
being  afterwards  turned  under  by  the  plough,  will  inevitably  ' 
place  the  land  in  a  course  of  improvement.  It  is  questionable  i 
with  some  farmers,  whether  it  is  best  to  plough  in  the  clover  ■ 
the  year  after  its  being  sown  with  the  stubble  of  the  grain  crop  •  1 
but  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  better  to  sufler  i 
the  clover  to  remain  one  year,  and  to  adopt  what  is  commonly  j 
called  the  three  shift  system  ;  for  example,  first  corn  ;  then  \ 
small  grain  with  clover,  which  is  to  be  well  plastered  ;  and  " 
then  clover  to  be  mowed  or  fed  ;  and  this,  where  the  clover  can  t 
be  advantageously  pastured  with  sheep,  will  secure  the  gradual  - 
improvement  of  the  land. — There  are  other  ameliorating  crops  ; 
and  the  ploughing  in  of  green  crops  in  several  decisive  experi-  ^ 
ments  has  been  signally  successful ;  but  no  system  can  be 
worse  than  that  sometimes  practised,  and  of  which  examples  J 
may  be  seen  in  the  beautiful  meadows  of  Hatfield,  which  ope-  \ 
rate  more  effectually  to  set  off  by  way  of  contrast  other  parts  ! 
of  their  fine  farming;  I  mean  the  practice  of  naked  fallows 
with  the  hopes  that  exhausted  lands  may  be  recruited  by  mere  * 
rest  and  weeds.  ^ 
The  next  obstacle  to  improvement  is  the  want  of  manure.  ■ 
This  is  a  serious  want.  Good  crops  cannot  be  obtained  with-  I 
out  manure,  but  how  to  obtain  the  manure  is  the  difficult  ques-  I 
tion.  The  first  step  certainly  is  the  consumption  of  the  pro-  \ 
duce  upon  the  place.  This  is  pretty  generally  done  ;  bu^^|g|  | 
much  of  the  materials  for  manure  furnished  by  the  crops  them-  ^^^  -j 
selves  is  most  improvidently  wasted.     This  is  particularly  re-        ♦c  I 


14 

markable  in  regard  to  the  corn  crop,  where  the  butts  and  husks 
instead  of  being  carried  into  the  barn  and  yards  to  be  there 
used  as  food  or  converted  into  manure  as  litter,  are  left  to  per- 
ish in  the  field,  returning  comparatively  nothing  to  the  earth  ; 
and  though  browsed  by  cattle,  yet  yielding  under  these  circum- 
stances nothing  deserving  consideration.  You  will  pardon  me 
if  I  speak  of  such  a  practice  as  wasteful  and  slovenly.  Every 
vegetable  product  on  a  farm,  which  can  be  used  advantage- 
ously as  food,  should  be  so  appropriated;  and  what  will  not 
answer  as  food  should  be  carefully  collected  for  the  purpose  of 
littering  the  styes,  stables,  and  yards.  The  great  rule  should 
be  to  gather  up  the  fragments  that  nothing  be  lost. 

In  the  next  place  almost  every  farm  furnishes  in  some  bog- 
hole  or  reservoir  valuable  materials  for  compost  manure,  which 
if  carefully  conveyed  to  the  styes  and  yards  to  be  worked 
over  and  made  to  absorb  the  liquids  which  are  there  float- 
ing, will  turn  to  great  advantage.  The  conveyance  of  com- 
mon dirt  other  than  sufficient  for  this  absorbing  purpose  will 
not  pay  the  labor  of  transportation  ;  for  the  manure  may  as 
well  be  mixed  with  it  in  the  field  as  in  the  barn  yard,  and  the 
labor  of  carting  be  saved.  In  some  parts  of  the  country,  as 
for  example  in  Bernardston,  where  the  soil  is  cold  and  hungry, 
there  are  extensive  depositories  of  peat  mud,  which,  where 
properly  managed,  and  made  to  undergo  a  fermentation  by  the 
intermixture  of  horse  manure,  a  process  well  known  to  intelli- 
gent farmers,  and  by  the  discovery  of  which  the  name  of  an 
English  nobleman  has  been  immortalised,  will  yield  a  valuable 
manure,  precisely  suited  to  the  soils  among  which  it  is  found. 

The  agriculture  of  the  country  is  not  yet  in  a  sufficiently 
advanced  state  to  pay  much  attention  to  the  saving  of  liquid 
manures  ;  as  in  the  best  cultivated  countries  of  Europe,  where 
it  is  considered  as  the  most  useful  form  of  applying  all  animal 
manures  ;  and  where  every  farm  is  furnished  with  the  means 
of  preserving  and  of  applying  this  most  powerful  stimulus  to 
vegetation.  Provision  for  the  same  purposes  will  presently  be 
made  nmong  us,  when  our  farmers  feel  more  sensibly,  than 


15 

they  now  do,  the  importance  of  availing  themselves  of  every 
resource  of  productiveness  and  profit,  within  their  reach. 

The  soiling  of  animals^  that  is  the  keeping  them  in  yards 
or  stables  through  the  whole  year,  where,  when  attainable  they 
are  fed  upon  green  food  daily  gathered  for  their  use,  is  an 
abundant  source  of  manure  ;    and  to  a  certain  extent,  as  in 
many  of  our  river  towns  where  pasturage  is  difficult  to  be  pro- 
cured,  might  be  practised  to  the  great  advantage  both  of  the 
stock  and  the  owner.     Few  persons,    who  have  made  no  ex- 
periments and  given  no  attention  to  the  subject,,  have  any  pro- 
per idea,  to  what  advantage  and  extent,  the  produce  of  a  sin- 
gle acre  properly  cultivated  may  be  applied.     I  shall  make  no 
apology  for  speaking  with  so  much  directness  on  so  homely  a 
subject  as  that,  which  we  have  now  treated.     It  is  nothing  but 
a  siUy  affectation  of  delicacy,,  which  turns  with  disdain  from 
any  of  the  wonderful  processes  of  nature   however  humble 
The  most  splendid  bouquet,  which  ever  poured  out  its  delicious 
perfumes  on  the  unsullied  bosom  of  youthful  innocence  and 
beauty,  is  the  luxuriant  offspring  of  the  manure  heap  ;  and  the 
eultivated,  well-disciplined,  and  devout  mind  will  contemplate 
with  grateful  delight  that  mysterious  operation  of  divine  provi- 
dence,  that  signal  display  of  an   unsearchable   wisdom   and 
goodness,  by  which  every  thing  in  nature  becomes  subservi- 
ent to  some  valuable  end  ;  and  the  most  offensive  substances 
are  converted  into  objects  and  forms  of  beauty,  utility,  luxury,, 
and  delicious  indulgence. 

The  use  of  mineral  manures,  such  as  lime  and  gypsum,, 
ought  to  claim  much  more  attention  than  it  has  done.  The 
theory  of  their  operation  is  still  among  the  numberless  secrets 
of  nature,  into  which  human  sagacity  attempts  in  vain  to  pene- 
trate, and  before  which  man's  boasted  wisdom  stands  utterly 
confounded  ;.  but  their  practical,  beneficial,  and  astonishing  re- 
sults are  no  longer  matter  of  question.  Lime,  in  any  quantity 
in  which  we  might  be  glad  to  apply  it,  is  too  expensive  a  ma- 
nure to  be  freely  used  among  us  ;  but  no  manure  can  be 
cheaper  than  gypsum  ;  and  its  effects  are  very  extraordinary. 


16 

Its  mode  of  application  is  still  however  matter  of  experiment ; 
and  experiments  here  are  greatly  desired.  On  our  allavial 
lands  its  effects  are  said  not  to  be  apparent ;  on  our  hills,  in 
sorao  cases  most  strikingly  so.  An  intelligent  farmer  on  the 
Hoosac  river  informed  me  that  they  had  found  the  use  of  it  on 
lands,  where  the  growth  was  maple,  beach,  &c.  of  no  avail  ; 
but  on  their  pine  and  oak  lands  separated  from  the  other 
only  by  the  river,  immediate  and  valuable.  To  clover  it  is 
applied  always  with  great  advantage.  Every  well-attested  fact 
in  regard  to  it  deserves  attention,  and  ought  to  be  fully  and 
exactly  communicated  to  the  agricultural  public. 

Another  means  of  improving  lands,  the  value  of  which  ex- 
periment has  amply  confirmed  is  the  intermixture  of  soils. 
What  is  properly  called  marl,  an  unctuous  and  calcareous  clay, 
which  will  effervesce  on  the  application  of  acids,  has  not  been 
found  among  us.  A  valuable  deposit  of  it  has  been  recently 
discovered  in  New  Jersey,  which  the  farmers  are  there  apply- 
ing with  great  advantage.  In  our  primitive  region  it  is  per- 
haps not  to  be  looked  for.  But  we  have  peat,  bog  mud,  sand, 
and  clay  in  abundance  in  different  parts  of  the  country  ;  and 
the  application  of  clay  to  a  sandy,  and  of  sand  to  a  clayey  soil, 
is  of  obvious  utility  ;  and  often  of  better  and  certainly  more 
permanent  effects  than  the  most  abundant  dressing  of  animal 
manures.  Some  of  our  Deerfield  farmers,  I  am  told,  have 
found  the  application  of  clay  to  a  certain  extent  as  a  top  dres- 
sing on  their  grass  grounds  of  great  advantage  ;  but  I  am  not 
sufficiently  advised  on  the  subject  to  speak  more  fully.  An 
intelligent  farmer  of  Plymouth  county  ,f  whose  authority,  I  know 
from  personal  acquaintance,  is  to  be  entirely  relied  on,  has 
practised  with  great  success  and  to  a  considerable  extent  on 
this  principle  of  the  intermixture  of  soils  ;  and  has  rendered  his 
farm,  at  first  quite  inferior  one  of  the  most  productive  in  the 
county.  He  has  given  the  details  of  his  experience  to  the 
public  in  a  dissertation,   for  which  he  was  honored  with  the 

t  The  Rev.  Morrill  AUsn,  of  Pembroke,  Mass. 


1* 

premium  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Society  ;  a  disser- 
tation, deserving  the  attention  of  every  inquisitive  farmer. 

The  next  means  of  improving  your  lands  is  to  extend  your 
cultivation.  The  more  produce  to  be  consumed,  the  more 
manure  to  be  applied  ;  and  so  the  enriching  and  improvement 
of  your  land  may  be  kept  on  in  a  continually  accelerated  ratio. 
I  am  aware  that  the  proposition  to  extend  your  cultivation,  with 
a  view  to  the  improvement  of  your  farms,  will  be  received  with 
distrust ;  this  will  excuse  rae  for  dwelling  upon  it  more  at  large, 
I  will  give  you  my  opinion  j  and  shall  be  happy  to  be  correct- 
ed by  your  better  judgment. 

I  admit  that  in  general  it  is  a  good  rule  in  husbandry,  to 
cultivate  no  more  land  than  ycu  can  manure  well ;  and  to  ma- 
nure well  and  tend  well  all  you  do  cultivate.  I  would  recom- 
mend it  as  strongly  as  any  one ;  but  under  peculiar  circum- 
stances there  are  excepted  cases  to  every  rule  however  rea- 
sonable. Your  farm  is  run  down  and  impoverished.  You 
wish  to  restore  it ;  to  wake  its  dormant  energies  ;  and,  if  pos- 
sible, to  make  it  stand  upright  again.  Agricultural  improve- 
ments are  always  slow.  It  requires  a  year  to  accomplish  the 
most  simple  experiment ;  and  often  many  years  to  effect  any 
extraordinary  alteration.  But  there  must  be  a  beginning,  aud 
the  first  step  in  any  valuable  undertaking  is  commonly  diffi- 
cult and  discouraging.  When  Ledyard,  a  lad,  animated 
by  the  indomitable  spirit  of  adventure,  first  launched  his  frail 
canoe,  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from  this  spot  X)n  the  waters 
of  the  Connecticut,  to  him  an  unexplored  stream,  it  required 
a  bold  heart  to  push  from  the  shore  into  the  descending  cur- 
rent ;  but  as  he  was  borne  aloi^g  its  winding  and  fertile  banks, 
he  was  cheered  by  the  consciousness  of  his  onward  progress 
and  triumphant  adventure ;  and  continually  more  and  more 
animated  by  the  hope  of  farther  knowledge,  success,  and 
power.  This  confidence  of  progress,  this  hope  of  ultimate  suc- 
cess, certain  to  persevering  and  judicious  labor,  is  the  great 
encouragement,  which  is  to  sustain  us. 

Let  us  suppose,  then,  that  you  have  an  impoverished  acre  of 

C 


!8 

land,  and  at  present  no  manure  to  apply  to  it.  What  is  to  be 
done  ?  Perhaps  it  will  bear  rye,  the  crop  which  seems  to  de- 
mand less  of  the  soil  than  any  other  ;  and  will  put  up  with  the 
meanest  fare.  At  present  it  gives  you  comparatively  nothing. 
Sow  it  then  with  rye  and  clover  ;  plaster  it ;  gather  your  rye  ; 
perhaps  you  will  not  get  back  even  your  seed.  Now  use  the 
straw  carefully  for  litter,  and  convert  it  either  by  means  of 
your  swine  or  cattle  into  manure ; — plough  in  your  clover,  if 
there  is  any  of  it,  after  it  has  gone  to  seed  :  apply  the  manure 
be  it  more  or  less,  which  you  obtained  from  the  straw  gathered 
from  this  acre,  and  be  careful  not  to  cheat  the  land  of  any 
thing  that  belongs  to  it.  Sow  it  again  with  rye  and  clover 
and  repeat  the  same  process.  The  second  crop  may  be  ex- 
pected to  be  better  than  the  first ;  and,  though  the  returns  may 
for  some  time  be  small,  they  will  be  continually  increasing,  and 
will  soon  be  a  full  return  for  the  labor  and  expense  applied. 
Your  land  will  be  in  a  course  of  improvement,  and  your  means 
of  enriching  your  soil  will  be  increasing  in  a  correspondent 
proportion.  If  in  addition*  to  this  you  can,  as  I  before  remark- 
ed, depasture  such  clover  with  sheep  ;  and  enrich  such  land 
by  the  addition  of  some  soil  in  the  neighborhood  suited  to  its 
improvement,  the  balance  of  such  husbandry  will  be  in  the 
end  greatly  to  your  advantage.  This  is  one  process,  which 
may  be  adopted  without  any  great  outlay  to  the  improvement 
of  worn  out  lands,  where  manure  is  not  to  be  obtained  ;  but 
there  are  other  modes,  and  other  crops  by  which  it  may  be 
effected,  which  the  time  does  not  allow  me  to  particularize. 

There  is  another  ground  on  which  farmers,  whose  whole 
profession  and  business  is  husbandry,  and  who  are  looking  to 
its  fair  returns  as  an  honest  compensation  for  their  labor, 
should  be  urged  to  extend  their  cultivation.  If  any  portion  of 
your  land  is  absolutely  worthless ;  and  you  are  satisfied  that 
by  no  process,  which  you  can  apply  to  it,  you  can  ever  obtain 
an  equivalent  for  the  labor  employed  in  its  cultivation,  then 
indeed  for  cultivation  let  it  be  abandoned,   or  appropriated  to 


19 

any  purpose  in  which  it  may  yield  something,   and  the  most 
that  it  can  be  made  to  yield. 

There  is  likewise  land,  which  is  in  permanent  meadow  ; 
and  which  by  no  cultivation  can  be  made  so  productive  as  in 
its  present  condition. — Leave  this  then  as  it  is.  It  would  be 
very  injudicious  to  disturb  it.  But  on  many  farms  there  is 
some  land,  which  is  turned  into  pasture  and  affords  but  a 
scanty  supply  to  the  animals,  which  are  fed  upon  it ;  or  which 
remains  in  mowing,  yielding  a  small  crop  of  hay,  which  by 
cultivation  might  be  made  to  yield  good  crops  of  corn,  pota- 
toes, and  grain  ;  and  then  be  rendered  far  more  productive  of 
grass  than  in  its  present  state.  I  believe  there  is  much  land 
in  this  condition  ;  and  this  induces  the  complaint  that  our 
farms  are  too  large  for  a  profitable  cultivation.  Why  should 
such  land  remain  uncultivated  ?  Why  should  you  be  satisfied 
with  less  than  half  a  crop  1  What  would  you  say  of  the  capi- 
talist, who  was  bent  upon  increasing  his  fortune,  who  permit- 
ted any  portion  of  his  capital,  which  he  could  use  without  loss, 
to  remain  in  his  coffers  unemployed  ?  What  should  we  say  of 
the  manufacturer,  who  should  suffer  any  portion  of  his  power 
to  run  to  waste,  or  of  his  machinery  to  be  unemployed,  or  of 
his  raw  material  to  lay  by  in  useless  accumulation,  when  it 
might  all  be  employed  to  more  or  less  advantage  ?  He  might 
by  such  a  process  consult  his  ease,  but  certainly  not  the  ad- 
Tancement  of  his  fortune.  We  can  say  nothing  different  of 
the  farmer,  who  permits  any  portion  of  his  grounds  to  remain 
unemployed  ;  or  who  neglects  to  obtain  from  them  all  that 
they  can  be  made  to  produce.  We  believe  that  there  is  little 
land  of  a  kind  which  may  be  cultivated  without  loss,  but  what 
may,  by  judicious  and  persevering  labor,  by  a  process  within 
the  power  of  the  farmer,  whose  means  are  restricted  and  hum- 
ble, be  placed  in^a  course  of  certain  improvement,  and  afford 
a  fair  profit  to  his  exertions. 

The  answer  commonly  given  to  these  suggestions  is,  that 
labor  is  so  expensive  we  cannot  afford  to  cultivate  our  land. 
I  adir-t  that  the  expense  of  labor  is  very  high  compared  with 


the  value  of  produce.  Yet  I  cannot  but  believe,  in  circum- 
stances ordinarily  favorable,  and  where  the  price  of  land  is  not 
exorbitant,  the  man,  who  attempts  to  thrive  by  the  plough, 
and  does  himself  either  "  hold  or  drive,"  if  his  management  is 
judicious  and  persevering,  and  his  habits  frugal  and  temperate, 
will  obtain  a  fair  compensation  for  his  labor  and  pains.  If 
then  the  balance  of  his  cultivation  is  upon  the  whole  in  his 
favor,  why  should  he  not  extend  it  as  far  as  it  can  be  extended 
to  advantage  ?  why  should  he  permit  a  single  acre  of  his  land 
to  remain  unproductive,  which  may  be  made  productive  ?  if  he 
can  plant  ten  acres  to  advantage,  why  not  plant  twenty  ?  if  he 
can  produce  two  hundred  bushels  of  corn,  why  should  he  not 
attempt  to  raise  five  hundred  1  in  short  why  should  he  not  carry 
his  cultivation  to  the  utmost  limits  of  a  profitable  return  ?  Be- 
yond that  certainly  we  would  not  advise  him  to  go.  Under 
such  circumstances  he  engages  in  no  dishonorable  competition  ; 
his  gains  are  at  no  other  man's  expense  or  loss  ;  on  the  con- 
trary he  contributes  essentially  to  the  general  good,  as  the  in- 
crease of  his  produce  tends  in  a  certain  proportion  to  lessen 
its  price  in  the  market  ;  and  renders  therefore  the  comforts 
and  supplies  of  life  more  accessible  to  the  poorer  classes  of  the 
community,  and  certainly  not  less  so  to  the  richer. 

This  brings  us  to  the  great  subject  of  the  proper  size  of 
farms.  It  is  often  said  that  an  acre  of  land  well  manured  and 
cultivated  is  better  than  two  acres  poorly  or  imperfectly  ma- 
nured and  cultivated  ;  but  it  is  not  so  good  as  two  acres  well 
manured  and  cultivated  ;  nor  is  it  so  good  as  two  acres  poorly 
manured  and  cultivated,  if  the  profit  from  the  two  acres  is, 
after  all  expenses  are  allowed,  greater  than  the  gain  from  the 
one  acre,  though  not  in  an  equal  proportion.  He  is  the  best 
farmer,  as  far  as  agriculture  is  considered  in  a  pecuniary  view, 
whether  he  cultivate  much  or  little,  who  obtains  the  greatest 
amount  of  produce  at  the  least  expense. 

A  farm  is  too  large,  when  from  its  size  any  part  of  it  is  ne- 
cessarily left  unproductive  and  uncultivated  ;  or  if  from  its  ex- 
tent its  owner  or  landlord  is  incapable  of  its  careful  superin- 


SI 

tendence.  But  a  farm  is  not  too  large,  when  its  perfect  and 
exact  superintendence,  is  practicable  to  its  owner  ;  when  every 
part  of  it  is  made  as  productive  as  the  nature  of  the  case  ad- 
mits ;  when  upon  the  whole  result  it  yields  a  fair  remunera- 
tion ;  and  no  part  of  it  can  be  withdrawn  from  cultivation  with- 
out a  diminution  of  its  profits.  Farms  are  often  too  large  j 
too  large  for  the  capital,  which  the  owner  is  able  to  apply  to 
the  management,  for  a  successful  agriculture  can  no  more  be 
prosecuted  than  a  successful  manufacture  of  any  kind  can  be 
prosecuted  vvithout  a  considerable  floating  capital  j  and  they 
are  often  too  large  for  the  superintendence  of  a  single  individ- 
ual, for  the  management  can  seldom  be  divided  or  any  part  of 
it  neglected  without  loss  and  injury  ;  but  it  is  to  be  remember- 
ed that  large  farms  are  always  cultivated  at  a  much  less  pro- 
portional expense  than  small  ones.  The  expenses  of  outfit 
in  regard  to  utensils,  team  and  its  appendages,  and  a  great  vsfc- 
riety  of  necessaries,  is  by  no  means  .double  on  a  farm  of  lai^c 
size  to  what  it  would  be  on  a  farm  of  half  the  extent.  Many 
advantages  are  found  on  a  large  farm  from  the  division  of  labor, 
which  is  practicable  among  a  number  of  hands,  and  from  the 
convenience  of  having  a  imraber  of  laborers  at  command,  when 
any  pressing  emergency  occurs ;  and  from  the  opportunity  of 
constant  use  of  all  the  brute  labor  to  advantage  on  a  large  farm, 
which  is  not  possible  on  a  small  farm  ;  though  it  may  be  that 
the  same  amount  of  team  must  be  supported.  The  larger  the 
farm,  if  well  managed,  the  greater  the  profit ;  and  in  the  kind 
of  farming  of  which  we  are  treating,  the  amount  of  profit  ob- 
tained, after  the  amount  of  debit  and  credit  is  fairly  adjusted, 
must  be  the  test  of  its  excellence. 

Another  means  of  success,  to  which  the  attention  of  the 
farmer  must  be  particularly  directed,  is  that  of  the  saving  of 
labor.  Though  he  should  be  averse  from  withholding  labor, 
wherever  it  can  be  profitably  applied,  yet  it  should  be  a  great 
study  with  him  how  to  apply  it  to  the  most  advantage.  His 
profession  under  the  best  circumstances  will  require  much  hard 
toil ;  and  he  cannot  look  to  avail  himself  of  those  facilities  and 


22 

aids,  which  the  mechanic  and  the  manufacturer  find  in  the 
invention  of  the  most  curious  machinery,  and  the  application 
of  water  and  steam  power  to  their  various  arts.  Yet  the  farmer 
is  not  without  advantage  from  the  improvements  of  science 
and  mechanical  ingenuity.  An  immense  gain  has  been  effect- 
ed in  the  great  machine  the  plough  ;  and  in  regard  to  the  fa- 
cility of  holding,  the  ease  of  draught,  and  the  manner  of  exe- 
cuting the  work,  the  modern  cast  iron  plough  of  the  most  im- 
proved construction  has  an  extraordinary  advantage  over  the 
clumsy  and  cumbrous  machine  of  former  times.  The  revolv- 
ing horse-rake  is  a  machine  of  great  utility  ;  by  which  on 
smooth  land  a  man  and  boy  and  horse  will  easily  perform  the 
work  of  six  men. — A  threshing  machine,  whose  operation  has 
been  completely  tested,  has  lately  been  introduced  here,  which 
promises  to  be  of  great  utility.  It  is  worked  by  a  single  horse, 
and  is  without  dilRculty  transported  from  place  to  place.  It 
performs  its  work  in  a  perfect  manner  and  has  been  known  to 
thresh  two  bushels  of  grain  in  five  minutes.  Two  men,  a  boy, 
and  a  horse,  will  easily  thresh  one  hundred  bushels  in  a  day  ; 
and  the  actual  saving  of  grain,  from  the  more  effectual  manner 
in  which  it  performs  its  work  over  what  can  be  done  by  a  ftail, 
is  very  great.  A  roller  of  an  improved  construction  is  exhibit- 
ed on  this  occasion  ;  and  deserves  the  attention  of  farmers  as 
an  instrument  next  in  value  to  a  harrow  or  a  plough,  and  al- 
most as  indispensable  to  good  cultivation.  This  is  literally 
the  age  of  invention.  Improved  machines  for  shelling  corn, 
for  cutting  fodder,  for  grinding  corn  in  the  cob,  &c.  are  fast 
coming  into  use,  and  promise  great  advantages.  We  may 
hope  that  other  inventions  may  present  themselves  to  ingenious 
and  inquisitive  minds,  by  which  the  severe  toil  of  the  husband- 
man may  be  lightened  and  abridged.* 


*•  A  mowing  mnchine  moved  by  horse  power,  and  producing  a  great 
saving  ofmanunl  labor,  has  been  for  two  or  three  years  in  successful  opera- 
tion ia  Pennsylvania,  and  ihe  western  parts  of  Nevir  York  ;  and  from  the 
testimony  of  one  of  the  largest  farmers  in  the  United  States,  upon  whose 
farm  it  has  been  two  years  in  use,  is  highly  successful.  We  cannot  ima- 
gine what  human  skill  and  enterprize  may  jet  effect.    Professor  Rafinesque, 


23 

Another  great  object  of  the  farmer  should  be  to  restrict 
the  expenses  of  his  farming  establishment ;  to  cut  off  all  un-» 
necessary  expeiiditures  ;  and  to  apply  his  produce,  as  far  as  it 
is  consumed  on  the  farm,  in  the  most  frugal  manner.  The 
cooking  of  much  of  the  food  of  his  domestic  animals  increases 
its  nutritive  powers  ;  and  causes  it  to  spend  to  much  more  ad- 
vantage. The  cutting  of  fodder  for  his  horses  and  neat  cattle 
is  of  great  utility,  and  will  effect  a  saving,  as  the  most  exact 
experiments  have  shown,  of  more  than  one  quarter.  The  pre- 
ference of  ox  labor  over  horse  labor  deserves  his  particular  at- 
tention. The  keeping  of  a  horse  is  a  great  expense  separate 
from  the  accidents  to  which  he  is  exposed  ;  and  in  most  res- 
pects the  patient  ox  has  greatly  the  advantage  over  him,  espe- 
cially as  the  former  is  an  improving  and  the  latter  always  a 
deteriorating  capital. 

The  crops  to  which  the  farmer  may  to  most  advantage  devote 
his  cultivation  will  deserve  his  particular  consideration.  In- 
dian corn,  of  which  I  have  not  a  doubt  the  crops  in  this  part 
of  the  country  may  be  easily  doubled,  is  a  most  valuable  pro- 
duct. I  congratulate  the  farmers  upon  the  favorable  prospects, 
which  now  present  themselves  in  regard  to  the  cultivation  of 
wheat.  The  two  last  years  have  presented  extraordinary  en- 
couragements, and  by  proper  management,  and  especially  by 
early  sowing,  success  in  this  cultivation  becomes  highly  proba- 
ble. 

The  establishment  of  extensive  manufactories,  and  the  in- 
troduction of  power-looms  and  spinning-jennies,  has  nearly  de- 
stroyed the  usual  household  manufactures,  and  put  our  other 
Jennies  out  of  employment.  Our  ears  are  seldom  greeted 
now  a  days  in  the  farmer's  cottage  with  the  flying  of  the  shut- 
tle, or  the  deep  base  of  the  spinning  wheel.  We  confess  that 
we  have  looked  upon  their  departure  with  a  strong  feeling  of 

of  Philadelphia,  a  gentleman  of  distinguished  scientific  attainments,  adver- 
tises, for  farmers,  his  "  steam  ploughs,  by  which  six  furrows  are  ploughed 
at  once;  and  he  promises  in  one  day  to  perform  the  work  of  a  week  in  the 
best  manner."    Of  their  construction  or  operation  I  have  no  idea. 


24 

regret ;  and  deem  it  no  small  abatement  of  the  advantages, 
which  the  establishment  of  extensive  manufactures  has  obvi- 
ously yielded  to  the  country,  that  it  removes  the  daughter  from 
the  shelter  and  security  of  the  paternal  roof,  and  places  her  in 
a  situation,  which  certainly  furnishes  no  means  of  qualifying  her 
for  the  proper  department  of  woman  ;  to  preside  over  our  do- 
mestic establishments  ;  to  perform  her  part  in  the  joint  labors 
of  the  household  ;  and  to  know  how  and  when  and  where  to 
use,  prepare,  and  to  apply  to  the  best  advantage  within  doors, 
the  products  of  man's  labor  without  doors.  Many  occupations 
of  female  industry,  strictly  domestic  however,  of  a  healthy  and 
agreeable  nature,  are  constantly  presenting  themselves,  so  that 
there  is  little  danger  that  the  race  of  industrious  women,  and 
accomplished  wives,  at  least  among  the  country  girls,  will  soon 
be  extinct  ;  and  the  silk  culture,  fast  gaining  ground  among 
us,  promises  to  furnish  an  unexhausted  resource  and  a  profit- 
able employment  of  female  labor. 

IV.  A  variety  of  important  topics  press  themselves  on  this 
occasion  upon  our  attention  ;  but  I  forbear,  having  already 
trespassed  too  far  upon  the  candor  of  my  respected  audience. 

Agriculture  is  a  great  subject.  The  first  of  all  the  arts,  it 
may  derive  aid  from  them  all.  The  foundation  of  human  sub- 
sistence, comfort,  and  enjoyment,  the  origin  of  all  wealthy  and 
the  basis  of  commerce  and  manufactures,  it  deserves  the  pro- 
found attention  of  enlightened  and  philanthropic  minds.  That 
attention  it  has  often  and  will  continue  to  receive.  Agricul- 
ture is  already  greatly  in  debt  to  science.  Ignorance  and  pre- 
judice may  deny  the  obligations  ;  but  all  the  great  improve- 
ments, which  have  ever  been  made  in  agriculture,  have  been 
effected  by  the  inquiries  and  experiments  of  men  of  enlighten- 
ed and  active  minds,  of  wealth  and  public  spirit.  Their  ex- 
periments have  been  made  often  at  a  serious  expense  to  them- 
selves, but  at  a  proportionate  gain  to  others.  They  have  oflen 
been  wholly  unsuccessful  ;  but  in  an  art  so  entirely  practical 
as  agriculture,  it  is  as  important  to  know  what  cannot,  as  to  de- 


25 

tcnnine  wliat  can  be  done.  There  is  no  prejudice  more  con- 
temptible and  senseless  than  that  which  prevails  against  what 
is  called  book  farming,  and  professes  to  disdain  all  instruction, 
which  comes  in  a  printed  form.  If  by  book  farming  be  meant 
that  a  man  undertakes  to  cultivate  his  farm  by  mere  theory 
without  any  experimental  knowledge  or  observation,  I  only 
say  that  no  such  instances  have  come  within  my  knowledge  ; 
but  if  it  be  meant  only  that  an  intelligent  man  avails  himself 
of  the  history  of  the  agriculture  of  other  men  and  other  coun- 
tries, as  far  as  it  is  applicable  to  his  own  condition,  and  of  all 
the  aids  which  science  or  art,  chemistry,  botany,  zoology, 
anatomy,  entomology,  natural  history,  natural  philosophy  and 
mechanics  can  afford  in  relation  to  the  subject  ;  and  of  the 
actual  and  exact  experiments  of  other  men  faithfully  made 
and  fully  detailed,  I  am  not  able  to  see  how  he  could  pursue 
a  wiser  course,  for  his  own  interest  and  success,  the  general, 
improvement  of  the  art,  and  the  benefit  of  society. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  intellectual  improvement  of  the 
agricultural  classes  will  keep  pace  with  that  of  other  classes 
in  our  favored  community.  In  that  impetuous  struggle  for 
advancement  in  knowledge,  which  is  every  where  hurrying  the 
working  classes  forward,  may  the  farmers  neither  hold  back, 
nor  get  out  of  the  traces,  nor  lag  behind.  Their  opportunities 
for  improvement  are  great.  Books  are  universally  accessible. 
Small  associations  or  circles  for  mutual  improvement  are  highly 
useful  as  well  as  agreeable  ;  and  the  long  evenings  of  winter, 
instead  of  being  worse  than  wasted  in  the  senseless  gossip  and 
idle  talk  of  the  shop  or  tavern,  afford  most  favorable  oppor- 
tunities for  useful  reading,  for  the  instruction  of  our  families  ; 
and  the  enjoyment  of  the  innocent  and  delightful  recreations 
of  domestic  life. 

The  respectable  farmer  occupies  a  most  important  and  res- 
ponsible moral  station  in  the  community.  Coming  in  contact 
with  a  numerous  class  of  young  men,  whose  manners  and  mo- 
rals have  been  too  often  coarse,  vulgar,  intemperate,  and  dis- 
reputable, it  becomes  his  duty,  and  he  should  deem  it  a  great 

D 


26 

privilege,  to  exhibit  such  an  example  of  sobriety,  decorum^ 
civil  manners,  and  blameless  conversation,  as  can  hardly  fail 
to  command  their  respect  and  to  win  their  esteem.  Profane- 
ness,  indecencv,  and  intemperance,  which  have  been  but  the 
too  common  vices  of  this  class  of  men,  he  should  resolutely  ex- 
pel from  his  territory  ;  and  above  all  things  not  countenance 
them  by  a  disgraceful  example.  The  farming  interest  is  fast 
experiencing  the  most  important  benefits  of  the  utter  disuse  of 
ardent  spirit,  the  complete  exorcism  of  this  worst  of  evil  spirits 
from  their  premises.  Many  a  thrifty  farm  and  many  a  beau- 
tiful cottage,  the  abode  of  industry,  contentment,  and  compe- 
tence, has  been  washed  away  by  the  bitter  stream  of  New 
England  rum  ;  and  it  has  gradually  undermined  the  tenement,, 
until  at  last  the  whole  inmates  have  fallen  in  a  common  ruin, 
and  have  floated  downwards  on  a  current  which  never  stops, 
into  the  dark  ocean  of  infamy  and  unutterable  wretchedness. 

Agriculture  can  never  be  looked  to  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try as  a  source  of  wealth.  Yet  it  may  be  made  to  yield  an 
ample  competence  ;  and  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  reasonable  de- 
sires of  a  well  disciplined  mind,  which  has  just  views  of  human 
life,  and  is  neither  cankered  by  vice  nor  intoxicated  by  ambi- 
tion. His  gains,  the  fruits  of  honest  industry,  made  at  no 
man's  expense,  and  prejudicing  no  man's  interest,  may  be  en- 
joyed with  the  full  satisfaction  of  his  own  heart  and  conscience. 
His  occupation  presents  no  hazards  to  his  own  or  his  children's 
virtue.  He  has  at  his  command  all  the  means  of  subsistence 
and  comfort.  His  abode  is  the  calm  abode  of  peace,  industry, 
frugality,  and  contentment.  His  table  is  spread  with  the  sub- 
stantial fruits  of  his  own  labor.  His  clothing  is  gathered  irom 
the  flocks  which  he  himself  feeds  ;  and  woven  by  the  industri- 
ous hands  of  the  wife  and  children  whom  he  loves,  and  who 
love  to  share  his  labor,  he  wears  it  with  an  honorable  and  en- 
viable pride.  When  honor  and  integrity,  kindness  and  piety 
shed  their  combined  influence  over  such  a  habitation,  however 
lowly,  humble,  secluded,  weather-beaten  or  moss-covered,    it 


27 

presents  an  example  of  substantial  independence  and  domestic 
comfort,  which  the  proudest  monarchs  of  the  earth  may  envy. 

The  farmer  of  all  others  should  be  a  man  of  religion.  If 
pious  gratitude  and  confidence  find  no  place  in  his  bosom,  his 
mind  must  be  debased  by  selfishness,  and  his  heart  as  hard  as 
the  stones  of  his  fields.  "  Even  the  ox  knoweth  his  owner 
and  the  ass  his  master's  crib."  How  can  he  then,  receiving 
so  immediately  as  he  does  from  the  hand  of  God  the  exuberant 
bounties  of  his  providence,  be  unmindful  of  the  source  of  all 
his  power  and  all  his  blessings  ! 

In  the  wonderful  operations  of  nature  constantly  going  on 
around  him,  he  is  compelled  to  remark  the  wise  and  ever  active 
providence  which  sustains  and  directs  all  things.  In  the  part 
which  he  is  called  to  perform  in  these  extraordinary  and  mi- 
raculous processes,  he  is  most  forcibly  reminded  of  his  own 
dependance.  In  the  abundant  fruits,  which  crown  his  labors, 
and  the  ample  and  rich  provision  every  where  made  for  the 
support  and  enjoyment  of  all  the  animated  creation,  he  cannot 
but  adore  the  infinite  goodness  of  the  Author  and  mysterious 
Preserver  of  nature.  In  every  department  of  the  wide 
field  in  which  God  requires  or  permits  him  to  toil  or  to  par- 
take ;  as  the  humble  co-operator  in  the  labors  of  the  great  Hus- 
bandman or  the  fiivored  recipient  of  his  unrestricted  bounty  ; 
he  has  constant  occasion  to  regard  Him  as  the  great  object  of 
his  reverence,  confidence,  and  love  ;  of  his  humble  and  de- 
voted obedience  ;  of  his  fervent  and  filial  gratitude  ;  and  to 
bow  down  before  Him  as  "  all  in  all." 


US 


HYMN. 


COMPOSED    FOR   THE    OCCASION,    BY   J.    DEANE,    M.  D. 

O  Thou  whose  goodness  fills  all  space, 
Hear  us  in  Heaven  thy  dwelling  place, 
While  now  with  gratitude  we  raise 
Our  humble  song  of  feeble  praise. 

Thou  mak'st  tHe  changing  year  roll  round 
In  seasons  with  abundance  crowned; 
The  smiling  spring,  the  summer's  glow, 
Give  life  and  warmth  to  ail  below 

To  Thee  from  whom  all  mercies  spring, 

Creation's  fairest  works  we  bring; 

We  dedicate  them  in  thy  name 

To  Mercy's  source  from  whence  they  came. 

We  bring  the  harvest  of  the  soil, 
That  crowns  the  year  and  pays  our  toil, 
The  fruits  that  Autumn's  bounteous  hand 
Hath  scattered  o'er  our  happy  land. 

We  bring  the  works  that  art  and  mind 
Impart  to  aid  and  bless  mankind  ; 
What  genius,  skill  and  art  bestow 
To  Nature's  Architect  we  owe. 

Great  God,  still  open  wide  the  door 
That  swells  our  treasure  and  our  store; 
And  at  the  final  harvest  day 
To  Thy  fair  garnerb  speed  our  way. 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 
Syracuse,  N.  Y.   . 

PAT.JAH.  21.  1908 


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